We chat with author Albertine Clarke about The Body Builders, which is a mesmerising Borgesian literary debut about the frayed borders between our bodies and minds.
Hi, Albertine! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello Nerd Daily! I’m originally from London, but I’ve been living in the US for the past three-ish years. I’m twenty-seven, and I love playing tennis, reading, and drinking two guinesses on a Saturday night. The Body Builders is my first novel, but I’ve had short stories published here and there.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
My mother is an author, so I’ve always loved reading. As a child I read a lot of fantasty, and really really became obsessed with the escapist element – I had an overactive imagination, and it was the perfect place for me to explore that. When I got a bit older I started to read more “serious” literature, and ultimately studied English Literature at college. My thesis was on Philip K Dick and Kurt Vonnegut. It was Philip K Dick who made me want to write – I wrote a sci-fi short story inspired by him and it won a prize! That was the beginning. I never looked back.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: James and the Giant Peach.
- The one that made you want to become an author: VALIS by Philip K Dick.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The Adversay by Emmanuel Carrère. A man kills his family and Carrère befriends him to try and figure out why.
Your debut novel, The Body Builders, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Marriage Story meets Blade Runner.
What can readers expect?
A lot of initial responses have included words like “surreal,” “dreamlike,” “left me staring at the wall.” I think it’s a weird one. It might make you feel destabilised and wonder what’s real. Not only what’s real, but who decides what’s real?
More pragmatically, it follows a young woman who believes her body has been replaced by an identical synthetic copy.
Where did the inspiration for The Body Builders come from?
I had a period of incredibly bad mental health in my early twenties. I had moved to Florida for my creative writing degree and just couldn’t cope. Writing the novel initially was a way to channel my feelings of loneliness and desperation, but then it became something bigger, an exploration of where those feelings come from in all of us, not just me. There was no moment of inspiration, it was more a slow-burn of me realising I needed to write the novel to get myself out of the hole.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
In the third part of the novel, things get really weird. Ada, the protagonist, is shifted into a dream-space where her feelings manifest externally. I loved writing this part. It was so fun, like playing, or daydreaming. Coming up with these bizarre images made me feel so powerful, like I was directly in touch with my own unconscious.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
For me, the main challenge was isolation. I would write all day, channeling these really powerful and often deeply negative feelings, and then I would try and socialise, and I would feel so disconnected and unhappy. Writing is unhealthy – it traps you inside yourself, and it can be very difficult to shift out of that mode. The book is very interior, very claustrophobic, which I think reflects this. Ultimately the book helped me figure out a lot, but there were moments when I just wanted it to be over – I just wanted to escape from myself. The only way to overcome these feelings was to write it as quickly as possible and just get it over with. I also started psychotherapy pretty early on, which was a saving grace. I went twice a week, and it worked.
What’s next for you?
I just finished my second novel! I’m also working at a bookstore in Brooklyn, which day-to-day makes me very happy. Writing is difficult when you have to work and pay rent, which is why the MFA is such a lifeline for so many authors, and I’m still trying to figure out that balance. I’m focusing on short stories, pieces I can get through in early mornings or evenings. Look out for stories forthcoming in Kismet magazine and the Panacea Review!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?
In terms of new releases, Alexa Brahme’s Good News has caught my eye. I’m currently reading a lot in translation – Sepotology by Jon Fosse has me in its grips, and I’d like to continue my Scandinavian adventure. Marie NDiaye’s new novel The Witch also is calling to me. If anybody has any recommendations, let me know!
